Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has revealed to the Panama Joint Investigation Team (JIT) that a case against Sharif Trust was under investigation when he took charge of the accountability bureau.
Chaudhry in his statement said the first family was accused of laundering millions through the Sharif Trust.
“The allegations further proved that the Sharif family’s accounts were not audited,” he said in his statement before the JIT.
“The Sharif family was accused of purchasing ‘un-named properties’,” he added.
Chaudhry had also stated that NAB Lahore was asked to collect details of the properties in order to forward a mutual legal assistance request to the British government.
“Due to lack of information, NAB could not request for mutual legal assistance for the property.”
The case, initiated in 2000, was heard by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the apex court, added Chaudhry.
He further said efforts to obtain records were not evident from the relevant files.
“I assigned the case’s responsibility to a different officer and the process of collecting the record is underway now,” Chaudhry told the investigation team.
The statement further said that during investigations, it surfaced that records from the required time period were not available.
Another case against the premier revolved around Raiwind Road’s construction and was started by NAB Lahore and sent to NAB headquarters, the NAB Chairman’s statement added.
“NAB headquarters raised a few questions on the case and further investigations into the case are underway in the region,” he said.
An inquiry and two investigations against the prime minister and chief minister Punjab are underway according to Chaudhry’s statement.
The investigations and inquiry are regarding illegal use of authority in allotment of a Lahore Development Authority (LDA) plot.
The report submitted by the JIT to the SC states that investigations into all cases are underway and will soon be given a final shape.
“Hudaibiya Paper reference, Raiwind Estate reference, and willful loan default case were all dismissed by the LHC,” Chaudhry told the investigation team.
“Acting upon the advice of NAB prosecutor K.K. Agha, I did not file an appeal.”
The NAB prosecutor has an independent office in the bureau, formed for the department’s legal guidance, he added.